Cannes Provence-Alps-Cote D’Azur France

Cannes is located on the Mediterranean coast in the south east corner of France (it is 16 mls W of Nice and its airport. 49 mls NE of St Tropez. 350 mls SE of Paris. 32 mls W of the Italian border).

It is set on gently rolling hills set around a broad sandy bay. Cannes was originally a peaceful little fishing village and was “discovered” as a tourist destination by the British aristocracy in the mid-1800s.

Chamonix Rhone Alps France

Love it or loathe it, everyone tends to have an opinion about Chamonix. Many argue that it’s the capital of Alpine sport, with its position next to Mont Blanc, awe-inspiring scenery, a beautiful town, the Vallée Blanche, off-piste terrain to test the very best and the Grands Montets in Argentière. They’ll tell you the nightlife rocks, there are plenty of good restaurants, things to do all year-round and it’s just over an hour from Geneva airport. In short, why go anywhere else???

Sadly, there are drawbacks. Chamonix’s skiing does favour more advanced skiers. Beginners might feel left out. It is also disjointed, made up of a series of smaller bus-linked resorts; getting about can be a right pain if you’re without a car.

Varadero Cuba

Cuba’s history is turbulent and the various occupying forces have been the Spanish, the British, the US, and then Spain once again, until in 1902 the Republic of Cuba was created.

This area is favoured by the majority of visitors to Cuba probably because of its reputation as a “safe option”. Plenty of sun, sea, sand and water sports; the closest major resort to Havana. Lots of Italians, Spanish and Canadians.

Santa Lucia Cuba

Santa Lucia really is nothing more than a magnificent strip of beach, the resort area is less than 1 ml long with a few hotels lined up next to each other on the shore. A few bars have sprung up near run-down residential apartment blocks where the surfaced road peters out.

With its 21-kilometre strip of dazzling white sand overlooking the northern coral reef, Santa Lucia is well known for the quality and variety of its dive sites, with romantic names such as Valentina and Poseidon. Hotels and resorts dot the island, which is connected to the mainland by a causeway.

Havana Cuba

Situated on the north coast of the island and built around a natural island, Havana (La Habana), is one of the most lively and colourful cities in the Caribbean. The historic old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is fast becoming a tourist Mecca.

The Spanish left behind some superb colonial architecture and many of the great buildings and grand plazas have been restored to their former glory, but much of Havana’s charm can be found among the narrow, cobbled alleys packed with crumbling buildings and fascinating people.

Guardalavaca Cuba

Guardalavaca was originally a farming community, horse rearing is still a local speciality although the shoreline area which is about about 1 ml from end to end, abd is now given over totally to tourism.

The first hotel was inaugurated in the late 70s by Fidel Castro who swam in the pool. The village inland comprises several rundown apartment blocks and is home to about 200 inhabitants.

Cayo Coco Cuba Travel Guide

Cayo Coco is located at the midpoint of Cuba’s north coast, (it is 270 mls E of Havana. 65 mls N of the provincial capital of Ciego de Avila and its international airport). It is the Westernmost of the large “cays”, some 400 islands stretching for 186 mls from Santa Lucia in the south east and forming the Sabana Camaguey Archipelago (also known as Jardines del Rey).

This area suits real escapists seeking tropical-island solitude, bird-watchers, those with committed eco-interests and scuba-divers. Also popular with honeymooners.

Cuba Caribbean Travel Guide

Cuba lies in the northwest of the Caribbean Sea, 90 miles south of Florida, at the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico. Almost the size of England, it is by far the largest island in the Caribbean – in fact, at 744 miles long by an average 60 miles wide, it’s as big as all the rest put together.

To Columbus it was also the best: he called it “the most beautiful land yet seen by human eye”.

Aberdare National Park Kenya

The Aberdares are an isolated volcanic range that forms the eastern wall of the rift valley, running roughly 100km north south between Nairobi and Thomsons Falls. Soils are red and of volcanic origin, but rich in organic matter.

There are two main peaks, Ol Donyo Lesatima (3,999m) and Kinangop (3,906m) separated by a long saddle of alpine moorland at over 3,000m. From 1947 to 1956, the misty and rainy forests in the range served as a hide for the Mau-Mau guerrilla.

Prague Czech Republic

When the Iron Curtain was drawn back in 1989, it revealed Prague to a new generation of travellers. The Czech Republic’s capital and international showpiece, Prague is one of the most popular destinations in Eastern Europe. Its attraction lies in the physical beauty of the city with 600 years of architecture amazingly untouched by war.

The centre has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it demands to be explored on foot, an entire outdoor museum of history and a haphazard mixture of splendid architecture.